PD_21/07/20(SE: 81-108;5lb) Flashcards
pedagogy
noun [ U ] EDUCATION specialized
the study of the methods and activities of teaching
resigned
adjective
accepting that something you do not like will happen because you cannot change it:
a resigned look/expression/tone
opprobrium
noun [ U ] formal
severe criticism and blame:
International opprobrium has been heaped on the country following its attack on its neighbours.
fulmination
noun [ C or U ] formal
strong criticism or protest:
Stewart doesn’t deserve such outraged fulminations.
Her complaint took the form of fulmination, not reasoned argument.
exculpate
verb [ T ] formal
to remove blame from someone:
The pilot of the aircraft will surely be exculpated when all the facts are known.
incarcerate
verb [ T ]
formal
to put or keep someone in prison or in a place used as a prison:
Thousands of dissidents have been interrogated or incarcerated.
manumit
(transitive)
to free from slavery, servitude, etc; emancipate
inter
verb [ T ] formal
to bury a dead body:
Many of the soldiers were interred in unmarked graves.
happenstance
UNCOUNTABLE NOUN [oft a NOUN, oft by NOUN]
If you say that something happened by happenstance, you mean that it happened because of certain circumstances, although it was not planned by anyone.
[written]
I came to live at the farm by happenstance.
causality
noun [ U ] formal
the principle that there is a cause for everything that happens
Causality is the relationship of cause and effect.
[formal]
…the chain of causality that produces an earthquake.
vindicate
verb [ T ]
to prove that what someone said or did was right or true, after other people thought it was wrong:
The decision to include Morris in the team was completely vindicated when he scored two goals.
The investigation vindicated her complaint about the newspaper.
to prove that someone is not guilty or is free from blame, after other people blamed them:
They said they welcomed the trial as a chance to vindicate themselves.
moral turpitude
conduct that is regarded as immoral
inept
ADJECTIVE
If you say that someone is inept, you are criticizing them because they do something with a complete lack of skill.
[disapproval]
He was inept and lacked the intelligence to govern.
You are completely inept at writing.
…his inept handling of the army.
Synonyms: incompetent, bungling, clumsy, cowboy
amoral
adjective
without moral principles:
Humans, he argues, are amoral and what guides them is not any sense of morality but an instinct for survival.
incompetence
noun [ U ]
lack of ability to do something successfully or as it should be done:
Management have demonstrated almost unbelievable incompetence in their handling of the dispute.
allegations/accusations of incompetence
sloth
noun
[ U ] literary
unwillingness to work or make any effort:
The report criticizes the government’s sloth in tackling environmental problems.
incipient
adjective formal
just beginning:
signs of incipient public frustration
nascent
adjective formal
only recently formed or started, but likely to grow larger quickly:
a nascent political party
a nascent problem
nebulous
adjective
(especially of ideas) not clear and having no form:
She has a few nebulous ideas about what she might want to do in the future, but nothing definite.
inconsequential
adjective
not important:
an inconsequential matter/remark
Most of what she said was pretty inconsequential.
condone
verb [ T ]
to accept or allow behaviour that is wrong:
If the government is seen to condone violence, the bloodshed will never stop.
sabotage
- VERB [usually passive]
If a machine, railway line, or bridge is sabotaged, it is deliberately damaged or destroyed, for example in a war or as a protest.
The main pipeline supplying water was sabotaged by rebels. [be VERB-ed]
Synonyms: damage, destroy, wreck, undermine - VERB
If someone sabotages a plan or a meeting, they deliberately prevent it from being successful.
He accused the opposition of trying to sabotage the election. [VERB noun]
The explosion was designed to sabotage the negotiations. [VERB noun]
restraint
- VARIABLE NOUN
Restraints are rules or conditions that limit or restrict someone or something.
The Prime Minister is calling for new restraints on trade unions. [+ on]
With open frontiers, criminals could cross into the country without restraint.
Synonyms: limitation, limit, check, ban - UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
Restraint is calm, controlled, and unemotional behaviour.
They behaved with more restraint than I’d expected.
I’ll speak to the staff and ask them to exercise restraint and common sense.
Synonyms: self-control, self-discipline, self-restraint, self-possession
prejudice
- VARIABLE NOUN
Prejudice is an unreasonable dislike of a particular group of people or things, or a preference for one group of people or things over another.
Ghaffur alleged that he was repeatedly subjected to unnecessary prejudice.
There is widespread prejudice against workers over 45.
He said he hoped the Swiss authorities would investigate the case thoroughly and without prejudice. - VERB
If you prejudice someone or something, you influence them so that they are unfair in some way.
I think your South American youth has prejudiced you. [VERB noun]
The report was held back for fear of prejudicing his trial. [VERB noun]
He claimed his case would be prejudiced if it became known he was refusing to answer questions. [V be V-ed]
manacle
Debacle
- COUNTABLE NOUN [usually plural]
Manacles are metal devices attached to a prisoner’s wrists or legs in order to prevent him or her from moving or escaping.
Synonyms: handcuff, bond, chain, shackle
A debacle is an event or attempt that is a complete failure.
After the debacle of the war the world was never the same again. [+ of]
The convention was a debacle.
Synonyms: disaster, catastrophe, fiasco
nettle
mettle
VERB
If you are nettled by something, you are annoyed or offended by it.
He was nettled by her manner. [be VERB-ed]
It was the suggestion that he might alter course to win an election that really nettled him. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: irritate, provoke, annoy, gall
- UNCOUNTABLE NOUN [usually poss NOUN]
Someone’s mettle is their ability to do something well in difficult circumstances.
His first important chance to show his mettle came when he opened the new session of the Legislature.
For both sides, it’s the first real test of their mettle this season.
Synonyms: courage, spirit, resolution, resolve
fetter
- VERB
If you say that you are fettered by something, you dislike it because it prevents you from behaving or moving in a free and natural way.
[literary, disapproval]
…a private trust which would not be fettered by bureaucracy. [be VERB-ed]
The black mud fettered her movements. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: restrict, bind, confine, curb More Synonyms of fetter - PLURAL NOUN
You can use fetters to refer to things such as rules, traditions, or responsibilities that you dislike because they prevent you from behaving in the way you want.
[literary, disapproval]
…the fetters of social convention. - COUNTABLE NOUN [usually plural]
Especially in former times, fetters were chains for a prisoner’s feet.
He saw a boy in fetters in the dungeons.
pretentious
adjective disapproving
trying to appear or sound more important or clever than you are, especially in matters of art and literature:
a pretentious art critic
The novel deals with grand themes, but is never heavy or pretentious.
adroit
adjective
very skilful and quick in the way you think or move:
an adroit reaction/answer/movement of the hand
She became adroit at dealing with difficult questions.
atrocious
ADJECTIVE
If you describe someone’s behaviour or their actions as atrocious, you mean that it is unacceptable because it is extremely violent or cruel.
The judge said he had committed atrocious crimes against women.
The treatment of the prisoners by their captors is atrocious and breaks all international laws.
Synonyms: cruel, savage, brutal, vicious
ADJECTIVE
If you describe something as atrocious, you are emphasizing that its quality is very bad.
[emphasis]
I remain to this day fluent in Hebrew, while my Arabic is atrocious.
The food here is atrocious.
Synonyms: shocking, terrible [informal], appalling, horrible
witty
ADJECTIVE
Someone or something that is witty is amusing in a clever way.
His plays were very good, very witty.
He is a very witty speaker.
Synonyms: humorous, original, brilliant, funny
Winsome
underpin
verb [ T ]
ADJECTIVE
If you describe a person or their actions or behaviour as winsome, you mean that they are attractive and charming.
…a winsome young screen star.
She gave him her best winsome smile.
Synonyms: charming, taking, winning, pleasing
to give support, strength, or a basic structure to something:
He presented data to underpin his argument.
Gradually the laws that underpinned (= formed part of the basic structure of) apartheid were abolished.
When restoring the building, the first priority was to underpin the exterior walls by adding wooden supports along the foundations.
irradiate
to use radiation (= a form of energy) to destroy something, especially bacteria in food to keep it fresh
underserved
having inadequate service
overwhelm
verb
to defeat someone or something by using a lot of force:
Government troops have overwhelmed the rebels and seized control of the capital.
- VERB
If you are overwhelmed by a feeling or event, it affects you very strongly, and you do not know how to deal with it.
He was overwhelmed by a longing for times past. [be VERB-ed]
The need to talk to someone, anyone, overwhelmed her. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: overcome, overpower, devastate [informal], stagger More Synonyms of overwhelm
overwhelmed ADJECTIVE [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]
Sightseers may be a little overwhelmed by the crowds and noise. [+ by] - VERB
If a group of people overwhelm a place or another group, they gain complete control or victory over them.
It was clear that one massive Allied offensive would overwhelm the weakened enemy. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: destroy, beat, defeat, overcome More Synonyms of overwhelm - VERB
If an organization or service is overwhelmed, it is unable to cope with the demand for it. .
Their greatest fear was that the health service could be overwhelmed. [be VERB-ed]
Synonyms: swamp, bury, flood, crush
undergird
verb [ T ] formal
to support something by forming a strong base for it:
These are the four major theories that undergird criminal law.
saturate
- VERB
If people or things saturate a place or object, they fill it completely so that no more can be added.
In the last days before the vote, both sides are saturating the airwaves. [VERB noun]
As the market was saturated with goods and the economy became more balanced, inflation went down. [be VERB-ed + with]
Synonyms: flood, overwhelm, swamp, overrun - VERB [usually passive]
If someone or something is saturated, they become extremely wet.
If the filter has been saturated with motor oil, it should be discarded and replaced. [be VERB-ed]
[Also VERB noun]
Synonyms: soak, steep, drench, seep
cleave
verb [ I ] literary or old use
to separate or divide, or cause something to separate or divide, often violently:
With one blow of the knight’s axe, he clove the rock in twain (= into two pieces).
